It’s quite common that politicians, particularly those in power, search for various viable options for stimulation of the economy in times of recession including the ones caused by the present coronavirus pandemic.
Referring to one such options recently, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao suggested the Centre to make RBI inject “helicopter money” to put the economy battered by lockdown back on rails.
Picking it up as a news peg, unfortunately in literal terms, a popular Kannada news channel ran a news story along with scrolling that the Centre has plans to distribute money free, not as loan and without any interest, to every village by air dropping it with the help of helicopters.
The Press Information Bureau, however, jumped into the picture to stop the spread of misinformation and termed it as “fake news” with a clarification that the Central government was not going to drop money from helicopters.
It is understood that the same news channel had also run a story during demonetisation stating that the ₹2,000 denomination currency notes introduced by the RBI then would have a GPS-enabled chip embedded in it!
Zoo animals better off without visitors
In the fight to protect human beings from coronavirus, the welfare of animals has been forgotten. Nonetheless, there is happy news from Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad where the animals are apparently having a jolly time in the absence of visitors due to lockdown.
Also, a yellow Royal Bengal tiger gave birth to triplets, an Asiatic lion to twins, a golden jackal to six puppies, a blue gold macaw to two chicks and an ostrich to three chicks.
The zoo authorities are also keeping a close eye to ensure that coronavirus does not infect the animals like it happened to a tiger and a couple of other big cats in Bronx Zoo, one of the biggest zoos in United States. About 120 animal keepers are working overtime to run coolers and sprinklers in the enclosures of animals. The staff were alerted to monitor the symptoms of cold and nasal discharge of animals, particularly tiger and primates.
Throwing their weight around
The TRS MP P. Ramulu was pinned down by police for not wearing a mask on his face when he drove up to a check-post at Pahadishareef on Hyderabad outskirts. The missing mask on road users has caught the attention of every policeman on duty as they questioned the violators of lockdown. In the case of motorcyclists, they were even questioned for not wearing helmets.
The MP ran into the police party after his son was stopped at the checkpost and pulled up by personnel for blaring the siren of his car while travelling. His contention that he was the son of a MP and the member of a Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency himself fell on deaf ears. To top it all, he was travelling with four others in the car in violation of social distancing norms.
When the altercation between the MP and the police took place, he made no secret of his long tenure in public life to throw his weight. He said he was a three-time MLA, a Minister and now an MP.
Different strokes for different folks
The Telangana police have adopted double standards on seizure and releasing of vehicles from violators of lockdown rules. While in Hyderabad the vehicles are being released within a day of seizure, the police in adjoining Cyberabad Commissionerate told the violators that the vehicles will be in their custody till the lockdown is lifted.
Similarly, such double standard practices are being adopted in the districts as well.
This invited sharp criticism from AIMIM Chief and Hyderabad’s Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi a few days ago. The legislator took to twitter and asked DGP M Mahender Reddy and Police Commissioners of Hyderabad and Cyberabad to frame a policy to release the vehicle. “Sir @TelanganaDGP @CPHydCity@cpcybd pls frame a policy ,&vehicles are released poor need them Breaking] Kerala HC Directs Release Of All Vehicles Seized For Lockdown Violations On Personal Bond Of Owner,” he tweeted.
With inputs from B. Chandrashekhar, N. Rahul, M. Rajeev, and Abhinay Deshpande
